Emotions
by MelisaArtemis
Summary: Eve has to sacrifice her emotions in order to upgrade her Electra Code to Battle Seraph Code... Or does she? M rating but no smut. Pairing: To be disclosed over time. CH9 is UP.
1. Chapter 1

**Emotions Chapter 1: Prologue**

Disclaimer: I don't own Elsword Online or any of the content associated with them. All of them are property of KOG.

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Eve is sitting on a rock surrounding a campfire in the middle of the field between Feita and Bethma that Aisha had created with her fire magic. Next to her are her twin nasod drones which are busy chasing each other round and round the Nasod Queen's feet, being the childlike nasods they are. The "Little Queen of Nasods" herself actually busies herself with observing the rest of the gang or "Elgang" as the people call them nowadays.

Elsword is biting into the barbequed meat on the stick with gusto, Aisha is berating him eating habit which the Rune Slayer conveniently ignore, Rena being the wise elven lady she is decides to just look at the two in amusement, Raven silently polishing his blade with a piece of cloth seemingly uninterested to what is happening although those who looks close enough will be able to tell that he was watching over them, Chung has his guns on his lap as he tinkers with them and finally Ara, the newest addition to their growing party is already asleep in her sleeping bag.

As Eve continues to look at her friends, a "feeling" of trepidation enters her consciousness. Her mind goes back to the code that she with the help of the very same people in front of her managed to salvage from the tyrant King Nasod, The Battle Seraph Code or Seraph Code for short. Every attempt to integrate the new code into her existing Electra Code keeps showing the same errors, that she lack a catalyst to combine them and another additional problem to be solved. The former problem has been fixed with the help of the moonstone piece now in a flask in her possession which the Battle Magician Aisha had told her and coincidentally also need in order to get to the next step of her magical study. The second error though is the one that creates the unrest within the beautiful nasod.

Although she has told the others about the necessity of the catalyst to activate the Seraph Code, she has purposely skip on telling them about the second problem. The reason for her keeping the second problem is both simple and complex but more more than anything else is ironic due to the humanity of it, Fear. What she fears though is not the process of installing the code, the process of installing the code itself is fairly easy and simple, all she needs to do is just put the items into their respective places and it can be either success or failure. So it is definitely not the process that scares her, in contrast though, she fears the end result of it or to be exact, what she will become if the installation is successful. Afterall, in order to activate the Seraph Code, there is an existing process that Eve has to sacrifice due to the conflict between the two codes: Her emotional control unit.

In contrary to her lack of expression, Eve treasures the time she has accumulate with the Elgang; not that she will admit it, of course. Therefore, she fears of what her friends would think of her if she is to tell them about the cost of her pursuit for power to restore the Nasod Kingdom to its former glory. The problem being that on one side, she fears that they would disapprove of it and cuts her off for being selfish in her pursuit. On the other hand, she also detests the idea of them approving the loss of her emotion for power as it would imply that all she is to them is a battle asset and nothing more. The queen closes her eyes as she lets out a deep sigh that fortunately has escaped the attention of the others, the last thing she wants it to worry them with her own dilemma, especially that worrywart Elven Grand Archer.

Finally, one by one, the Elgang members retreat into their respective sleeping bags or at least Elsword, Aisha and Rena does while Raven has contented himself with leaning on nearby tree covered only in blanket. Eve herself has also went for for her usual "sleep mode" as she told the others, or at least she looks like it before her eyes opens once again after she makes sure that the others are already sleeping. The young nasod stands up from her position followed by her two drones which then followed their mistress' action as they floats besides her.

Eve turns toward the same stone that she has been sitting on, revealing that she has left a message for the group, or carve it would be a more accurate saying since her message has been imprinted on it with Moby and Remy's blades as they pretends to play around her. The moonlight above gives her a clear view of what she has written on it, "There is something I need to do. Leave without me, I'll catch up. Eve." For a moment, Eve keeps looking at the carved words until Moby and Remy floats up her shoulder to attract her attention. The female Nasod immediately straighten herself as she speaks, "I'm fine, I have decided." Suddenly, a familiar male voice speaks behind her, "Decide on what?"

Eve whips her body around toward the source of the voice and immediately finds that a certain Blade Master has his eyes open and alert. Raven doesn't change his body position but his expression shows that he will not let her dodge the question so easily. Eve meets the man's golden eyes with her own and for a minute, only the rustling of grass and sand can be heard between them before she speaks again, "Something that I have to do… for the resurrection of Nasod Kingdom."

Raven narrows his eyes toward the nasod queen as if trying to make sense of her answer. For a moment, Eve thought that the man will draw his sword toward her. Afterall, what happened to him has been due to the very same kingdom that she had and still attempts to rebuild. It will not be a surprise if the thought that killing her to prevent her from succeeding has cross the blade master then or even in the past. Besides, truth to be told, Eve isn't really sure if she has the power to prevent him from his goal considering the man's sharp increase in ability since they passed Altera and bested the King Nasod himself. Yet the next thing she knows, Raven has closed his eyes once again though he does leave one last question, "You will be back, right?" Eve merely nods her head as she speaks, "I promise." When she isn't getting any more words from the sleeping man, she turns away from the camp and starts gliding toward Bethma.

**A Few Days Later…**

Eve stands before the now inactive remains of King Nasod and involuntarily clenches her hands besides her. Even with its life fading, the giant of a nasod still radiates the aura of power and dignity that few could match. In fact, Eve cannot help but think that the fact that the entire Elgang has manages to subdue the monster will their lifes and limbs intact was nothing short of miracle and most likely due to dumb luck. She closes her eyes for a moment as if gathering her courage before she makes her way toward the giant's centre piece.

As she approaches until she reaches within touching distance of the glass the core of the giant nasod, she can see a small opening inside the giant's chest behind the glass. It was where she was supposed to be connected to the giant, it is no coincidence that her title is the "Little Queen of Nasod". Truly, compared to the King Nasod's body, Eve would be no bigger than his pinky. Eve points her finger toward a pair of opening on the left and right of the glass as her faithful drones immediately puts themselves into both opening. Once Moby and Remy are inside their respective position, the glass lets out a hiss as it swings open gently, allowing Eve to enter.

Eve gently glides through the opening until she reaches something that resembles a control room with a console filled with buttons inside. She reaches for a cable with a connector on its end before plugging it into the connector in her body hidden behind her neck by her long silver hair. Immediately the console lights up, allowing Eve to operate it by typing on the console. She inserts the Seraph Code and the Moonstone piece into their respective places and as expected, an error shows up on the screen, "Error. Conflicting process found: Emotional Control Unit. Disable the process?" Eve's finger hover over the keyboard's confirming button and for a moment she stops as if she hesitates in pressing the button.

Eve closes her eyes as memories of her times with the Elgang flashes inside her mind, most of them are memories of Elsword and Aisha arguing, memories of fighting enemies, dangerous moments as they fight against the bosses, but more than anything, they are fun times. Times that Eve would hate to lose and memories that she have to let go for the resurrection of her kingdom, Is it really worth it…? Unconsciously, a lone tear escaped from her eyes as Eve opens them. She lets out a bitter smile as she speaks to herself, "What a stupid question… The resurrection of the Nasod Kingdom is of the greatest importance. Nothing else is more important than that." With a final determination, her finger pushes the button as the screen changes, "Removal of emotional control process has been approved. No conflict found with installation of new code. Continuing Procedure."

The cables around her seem to come alive as they move like striking snakes as they attaches to her body one by one. As more cables attach themselves to her, Eve feels her body being lifted by them with her body forcefully spread eagle as if she is hung on a cross. Suddenly, a great pain shots out from inside her as if she is being electrocuted with high voltage electricity before everything went black, the last thing she hears being the console speaking, "Removing emotional control process… Complete."

Eve slowly opens her eyes in what feels like eternity and greeted by darkness around her. She soon realizes that she has been lying on the floor of the console room inside King Nasod. The silver haired nasod looks around her until the flashing of light of the console screen attracts her attention with a message on it, "Battle Seraph Code Installation Complete." For a moment, Eve looks at the screen in confusion before turning around as she makes her way back toward the entrance. She points her palms toward the glass as she lets out her first words since her awakening, "Giga Stream." Suddenly light fills the view as the bullet proof glass blasted to pieces by the massive laser that escapes from the female nasod's palms, even blowing a huge hole on the wall of the Altera Core straight to the outside, allowing the sun ray to enter the building straight toward the center of the King Nasod remains as if illuminating the appearance of a divine being.

Eve steps out of the now gaping hole on the King Nasod's chest that she herself creates just now, the light showing her new appearance. Her silver hair which has reached to her middle back before has grown even longer as they reaches all the way down to her ankle, it is split in the middle as if to accommodate for a pair of wings. Her stature has also changes significantly as if the installation of the code allows her to grow up several years, making her look like a beautiful young woman instead of the tween look she has as Code Electra. Even her clothes have changed from the innocent looking dress to something more provocative that exhibits her beauty. Eve puts her palms over her chest as she lets out an angry shout that is loud enough to be heard all the way to Bethma, "Why my breasts doesn't grow at all?!"

And everyone knows that something has gone terribly wrong...


	2. Chapter 2

Emotions Chapter 2: Confusion

Disclaimer: I don't own Elsword Online or anything associated with the game. All right and reserve of the franchise belongs to KOG.

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Eve is currently sitting on a metal bench inside a workshop with several cables connected to her body while a bipedal raccoon-like creature typing on a console where the cables on her are connected to. With her back bend slightly forward, knees closed tight and her palms resting on top of it, the female nasod look completely the part of a teenager shrinking from being scolded by her parents, the pulsating veins on the Ponggo typing on the console gives away just who exactly has put the newly reborn nasod queen at her place.

Amos finally stops typing as her turns toward his "patient", "So… let me get this straight one more time… you wanted to install a new code to upgrade your old code and all you knew was that your "Emotional control unit" was interfering with it..."

Eve meekly nods at the supposedly much younger Ponggo alchemist before he continues, "You decided that removing the unit was an acceptable price to pay and assume that removing it would turn you emotionless instead of… whatever you are right now…" Again, the silver haired nasod in white nods her head.

Finally, Amos finish up his conclusion of the rather comical tale had it not for the side effect of it, "So… you stepped out and realize that… you have gone all grown up except for your… chest and… in your blind rage you combined all three of your force field modes before Giga Stream-ing everything in your sight… which happen to be the entirety of Altera…. ARE YOU AN IDIOT?!"

This time, Eve has the decency to wince slightly before meekly replying, "Well… it was just an accident…." Unfortunately, she didn't say it low enough to escape the hearing of the now angry teenage Ponggo in front of her, "An accident?! Wiping out HALF of Altera and shaving off the top half of Altera Village does NOT constitute as "Accident" it's a straight out "Disaster"!" Amos points his finger upward as if to push the point home.

True enough, the Ponggo's town which used to be buried under the mountain surface now has a very clear view of the sky with the ceiling gone thanks to the Battle Seraph's stray beam attack, "You're lucky that no one is hurt or worse, died because of you! Seriously, it is called Emotional CONTROL Unit for a reason! Without it, you're now more prone to mood swing than a human female during their time of the month!" Just as he said it, something that would have been unthinkable even a few days ago happens: Eve is bawling her eyes out like a bullied 5 years old as she cries out, "I already said I'm SOWWY!"

Amos lets out a deep sigh as he puts his palm over his forehead for a moment before turning his attention back to the console, "I'm currently looking at your programming code and can't even begin to think where to start. I have never seen coding like this before and I'm not even remotely a Nasod expert, much less an ancient class nasod like you are. Your coding is unique beyond believe it's almost a miracle that you didn't end up destroying yourself with your reckless attempt for an upgrade."

The pongo let out a long sigh as he continues, "At best this going to take days to even understand much less find how to fix and it MUST be fixed, you at your current state would be too volatile for anyone to be around for extended time." Secretly the ponggo cannot help but think about a certain red haired boy that he remembers to be the most often receiver of Eve's slap, 'In her current state, she probably gonna end up killing that boy with one of her skill…' Amos looks up to the open sky as he dreads the boy's fate, 'Lady El help him….'

Unfortunately for the young Ponggo, it seem like his estimate of "a few days" turn out to be something that they can't afford when a letter comes the very next day delivered by Bethma courier addressed to the Altera chief who immediately calls for Eve's presence. The purpose of the letter becomes clear when Adel hands the letter to the nasod queen who receives them with confused expression until the elder Ponggo tells her to read it herself. Eve puts her fingers on the envelope and removes the letter before reading it before her eyes widen a few minutes later when suddenly a pair of wings made of light sprouts off her back, "Moby, Remy! We're going!"

Before the others manage to stop her, Eve takes off like a bat out of hell through the open roof of the village. Amos, still shocked from the girl's sudden action turns toward Adel for explanation which he provides, "Velder is in critical condition, Elsword and his friends tries their best to help but they are unable to turn the battle around. The demons have invented what look to be a war mashine and the human army is losing badly. I showed Eve the letter because it concerns her friends… I didn't expect her to take off just like that though, her newfound flying ability will probably allow her to cut the travel time significantly, I suspect she might even be able to reach Velder as soon as later today."

True enough, Eve is currently flying through the air or more like freefalling straight from the floating island straight toward Velder, the massive Velder castle being clear enough destination. As she pass over Feita, a flock of gargoyle tries to intercept them but the nasod queen is undeterred as instead of stopping, she twists her body and speeds up, "Get out of my WAY! Energy Needles!" Her "wings" spreads wider as they shoots small electric "feathers" toward the flying monsters while Eve ramming any of them that are unlucky enough to be on her way.

The "air battle" turns out completely one sided and more than anything, brief as the entire "battle" barely last minutes. None of the gargoyles stood a chance as most of them crumbles back to stones while the remaining decided to flee for their life, unfortunately Eve has no intention of letting them escape as she points her finger toward them, "Particle Ray". Unlike her usual straight line laser, once the beam passes her force field, it turns into dozens of energy bullets that home straight toward the flying monsters, piercing them straight on their cores.

Meanwhile in Velder, the ElGang is fighting through the enflamed remains of of what used to be the beautiful entrance of Velder castle. Instead of the white and blue appearance of what was the majestic symbol of capital city of Elrios, there are nothing left but browning granites from the ash and soot, what remains of the castle wall has become strategic position for the demon archers and worst of all, the screams of people still within the area whether burned to death or killed by demons becomes the orchestra of terror that comes from hell itself.

The Elgang has managed to brave the road leading toward the castle undeterred even by the rain of arrows from the glitter demon archers perched on their watch tower or the cannons that those same demons has built to destroy whoever comes close enough. In front of them stands the last gate that will take the group into the yard separating the castle from the outside wall yet they all know that in their current condition, challenging the now infamous glitter vanguard in the current condition would be extremely dangerous if not deadly.

Rena turns toward the others as she bends her back to catch her breath, "Just a little bit more, guys. That last demon and his ride were harder than we thought but we can do it…." Elsword by now is sprawled on the ground spread eagle with his sword besides him, "Speak for yourself, Rena. I'm pooped already… you try getting smacked around with his spear like a baseball. Had it not for those potions, I'd be dead already."

Aisha immediately joins the conversation, "You think you had it bad? That bird has issue with my twintail, damn it! And it was this close from plucking my eyes out with its beak had I not did an Energy Spurt by reflex." The newly crowned Dimension Witch puts her left hand's thumb and index finger together until they are barely half an inch of each other.

Chung and Ara unfortunately had to pull back from the battle after a long fight and had gone back to base. The former had taken a shot from a cannon and in need of emergency treatment which the latter being the fastest of the group had carried him back. Raven, the ever epitome of cool calmly walks toward the gate switch and pulls it down with no hesitation as he speaks, "Let's get this over with already…" Causing 2 of the youngest in the party groans.

Just as the gate opens fully, the Elgang enters through it with their weapons drawn… only to be greeted by the screech of tire as a massive machine heads toward them with the obvious intention to ram them. Rena's shout of "Scatter!" have no opposition as each one of the Elgang frantically jumps out of the way of the incoming vehicle which rams into the gate wall, instead.

Elsword though just have to say it, "Not another crazy nasod! What next?" The rain of arrows coming from the Castle's interior immediately causes the rest of the gang throws the red head an evil look as all of them scramble for cover, Aisha in particular shouts, "Elsword, you IDIOT!" The Rune Slayer shouts back, "How the hell should I know that will happen?!"

Further arguments between the two are interrupted as Raven calls out to them, "Kiddies, enough! That thing is coming back!" Rena immediately readies her bow as she calls out, "Maybe this will slow it down! Freezing Arrow!" The ice missile coming from the elf impacts the machine and for a moment it seem like it going to freeze over but that too soon proof to be futile as the ice around the machine shatter like glass. Once again, the gang jumps away to evade the wild charge before Aisha teleports above the machine, "What about this?! Energy Spurt!"

This time, the group is awarded by the sound of metal cracking from the machine before Elsword following it up with his own attack, "Get out of the way! Storm Blade!" With the combination of special skills, something bound to give from the machine as an explosion comes from it which throws the attackers away from it while the outer shell of the vehicle comes off revealing… another armor?

Raven being the one person which has escaped from being thrown too far, thanks to his nasod drone protecting him, immediately jumps into action. With a leap, he reaches the top of the vanguard and raised his blade as he concentrates his power on the blade before stabbing it deep into the joint between the armor, "Giga Drive!" The whole glitter moving fortress shakes greatly as if it is being in the middle on an earthquake before another explosion originates from it shakes the air which sends its remaining armor off of it along with the swordman who is perched on top of it.

As the dust settles, the group is greeted by the sight of the weapon still standing though covered only with an metal armor that obviously not as strong as the previous two. Aisha immediately protests on the unfairness of their situation, "That's Cheating! I don't even have time to charge for mana!"

The top of the vehicle lets out a hiss as a totem rises out of it with a stone inside that gives out a familiar glow. The totem immediately shoots out a beam upward which splits in midair into multiple lasers that travels back to the ground. The beams hits the Elgang party and throws them around like ragdoll several times before finally stopping, leaving every one of them barely surviving.

Rena being the most sensitive to the energy emitted lets out a weak sound, "That's… Dark El shard…." The vanguard's tires begins to screech once again, it clearly going to try to ram them once again and this time, none of them are in any position to do another evasion maneuver.

Before the vanguard manage to move though, something that look like a falling star hits it from above right at the totem containing the El Shard before burying itself inside the tank. Suddenly, the entire vehicle lets out a groaning and creaking sound while pale white light can be seen through the gaps on its shell as if something is forcing its way out from inside it. An explosion that dwarves all the explosions before it shakes the entire area even throwing off the glitter archers perched on top of the castle wall while the Elsword party fortunately got the least brunt of it due to all of them are flat on the ground.

When the wind blast finally subsides, the gang chances a look at the location of the glitter vanguard or what remains of it since all that is left of the metal vehicle are just pieces of it. At the epicenter of the explosion area, a slender figure can be seen standing there with pale electricity crackling around her.

The elven grand archer that is Rena immediately recognizes the person, "Eve…?" The figure turns toward the gang, her hair waving gently by the wind like a pair of wings as she shouts cheerily with a big smile while waving her arm above her head like a child, "Hi everyone!" The dumbfounded expression of the gang says what they are thinking more than words ever could.


	3. Chapter 3

**Emotion Chapter 3: Anger**

Disclaimer: I don't own Elsword or anything related to it. They all belong to KOG

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The entire Elgang sits inside a tent at Velder outskirt, the current lodging area of the survivors of the Glitter demon invasion of the city as well as the temporary main base of the Velder Royal Knight. All of the members of the gang are currently sporting different expression of disbelief as they try to take in the tale that their missing member is telling them. Rena being the first to recover from the shock, having lived as long as she does means that she has seen many things that the others hasn't though the elf could have sworn that the tale she has heard could easily top all of them in the "unbelievable" department. Hell, she would have thought that it was all just one big joke had the proof not been right in front of her. The grand archer finally speaks, "Well… Eve comes back to us safe and sound, that's all that matters. She even saved us from dead, so… let's just be glad about it." The others, though obviously still having trouble swallowing the tale, cannot exactly fault her reasoning.

The elf then walks toward Eve sitting across her and gently pats her on the head as she continues with a gentle smile, "Besides… I have to admit that I am kind of glad that she finally "discovers" her emotion. All in all, I like to think this happens for the best." Eve smiles happily at her as she lets herself being pat on the head. Rena cannot help but think that the nasod currently reminds her of a young child inside the body of a teenager and she has to admit that it tickles her motherly instinct though she won't ever admit it to anyone even at spear point. Elsword, though, just has to ruin the moment as he too approaches the nasod queen with a mischievous smile, "Still though… you should have told us if you have a problem, that's what friends are for and…" The red haired Rune Slayer flicks Eve on the forehead as he continues, "… That's for leaving without telling and worrying all of us."

For a moment, Eve puts her hands over her forehead as her eyes starts to water as if she is going to cry, "It… hurts…." Suddenly the Battle Seraph points her finger at Elsword as she pouts outrageously as she looks ready to burst into tears anytime soon, "ELSWORD YOU MEANIE! TASER PHILUM!" A pale energy shoots out of the pointed finger which narrowly misses the red head's face but it does singe some of his side hair. For a moment, all of the Elgang froze in silence as all of them are looking at the hole on the tent from the stray beam with pale faces before turning back toward Eve. Aisha's next words shatter the silence but the message for once comes with no opposition, "Elsword, RUN!"

The red head needs no further incentive as he bolts from the tent like bats out of hell, leaving only a trail of dust behind while Eve immediately gives chase while screaming, "Wait! Taser Philum, Taser Philum, Taser Philum!" Elsword speeds up as he keeps dodging the beams while shouting back, "Damn it, Eve! It was just a flick!" The vengeful Eve shouts back, "Shut up! Induction Spectrum, Taser Philum!" This time a green force field appears in front of her as she shoots her beam which phase through it, obviously losing a portion of power. In exchange though, the beam shows the sign of following the escaping Elsword's movement before stinging him right on his bum. The said red head lets out a yelp before collapsing on the ground in fetal position with his hands on his bum while grimacing as if enduring terrible pain, "Damn it, Eve!" The said Nasod queen lets out a huff with her hands resting on both side of her hips and satisfied expression before flicking her hair back with her hand, looking extremely proud of herself before turning her body around as she makes her way back to the tent with confident steps, leaving the groaning Elsword still in his position.

Just after a few steps, Eve sees that the rest of the Elgang has followed her chasing after Elsword and saw what happened, their reactions are mixed to say the least. Aisha is kneeling on the ground while holding her stomach and her shoulders shaking with laughter, Rena looks at her in disbelief before shaking her head exasperatedly; Raven has his palm against his forehead suddenly looking very tired, Chung looking at her with wide eyes and his jaw hanging in disbelief and Ara is covering her open mouth with her hand. Aisha finally catches her breath and wipes her eyes with the back of her hand as she speaks, "That was awesome, Eve. So you can control your beams into homing bullets, hmm? That will definitely come in handy if we see Chloe once again or to shoot down those pesky wyverns, having to rely on Chung's Shooting star or Rena's Homing Arrow kind of takes a lot of resource." The Silver haired nasod gives the Dimension Witch a thumb up as she speaks cheerily with a wink, "Leave it to me."

Just as she said it, a female soldier approaches the party hurriedly though she cannot help but pause when she lays her eyes on the red haired teenager still kneeling on the ground on fetal position. Still, she comes with emergency notice so Vanessa decides to ignore that sight for now, "I'm sorry to interrupt but we have a big problem and only you guys can help. We are trying to help survivors from the castle to escape but when we arrive at the Hope Bridge, it was already ransacked and burned down by the demons. Our soldiers can't advance and the people in the castle can't escape through it." She pulls out a picture from her breast pocket and hands it to Rena, "Our surveillance reports the sighting of a mysterious demon in the shape of a huge puppet or scarecrow. It is believed that he was the creator of those strange exploding fairies, if you can put a stop on him then we might have a chance." Finally, Vanessa points toward Elsword before asking the thing that was gnawing on her curiosity, "By the way, what happened to him?" which sends Aisha to another bout of rolling on the ground laughing and holding her stomach while Rena explains what happened with red face of embarrassment.

Vanessa finally left while shaking her head while Rena turns toward the group, "Well, it seems for this one we will need someone who can move agile and have the least problem with obstacles. I believe Eve, me, Aisha and Ara would be best." She turns toward the rest before continuing, "Raven and Chung, if you can… move Elsword back to the tent that would be appreciated. I know you two want to help but I think this time it will be easier just with the four of us since all of us has special ability that allows us to get through obstacles easier: Eve with her flight, My and Ara's double jump and Aisha's teleport." Both males can't exactly fault her logic and nods their agreement as they makes their way to Elsword and half-carries him back toward the tent while the females makes their way toward the gate.

Soon all four females find themselves at the burning Hope Bridge and Aisha lets out a yell, "Well… Ahem… Girls Power!" which Eve joins in cheerily, "Let's make them kneel!" Rena cannot help but lets out a giggle at the antics of the two while Ara turns to her, "I can see what you mean about this might be for the best, Rena. I'd rather this new Eve than the old emotionless one… and you have to admit that a punishment for Elsword was long overdue." Rena turns back on Ara with a gentle smile as she replies, "You're a bit wrong there, Ara. Eve never was emotionless, she simply let go of her chain on it… and you're right, some punishment on Elsword was overdue. I'm just relieved that Eve at least can still hold back enough not to kill him."

As if on cue, Eve turns toward Rena before answering, "Ehh…? It wasn't meant to kill to begin with, though he will be having trouble sitting down for a while with a numb behind." The battle seraph crosses her arms around her chest as she pouts likes a child before continuing, "…but I will shoot him with something stronger if he hits me on the head again." Both Rena and Ara sweat drops as they both listens to her. The former especially makes a mental note to talk with the red head swordsman after their current mission, he might be annoying sometimes but even he doesn't deserve a death sentence….


	4. Chapter 4

Emotion Chapter 4: Joyful

Disclaimer: I don't own Elsword of any of their franchise, they all belong to KOG.

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Elsword is lying on his stomach on top of his own spread down sleeping bag since his bum feels like it has been stung by a horde of bees which prevents him from lying on his back. Chung, the ever noble kid cannot help but ask the red haired swordman, "Elsword, are you okay?" which cause Elsword to give him the look that says: What kind of question is that? Which in turn makes the blonde gunner scratch the back of his head sheepishly, "Right… dumb question, sorry…." Raven watches the other two from his position at the edge of the tent before giving his own opinion of the situation, "Count yourself lucky and next time, try acting with more tact, Elsword." The boy turned toward the blade master before replying, "You count this "Lucky?" Raven rolls his eyes before countering back, "All she did was just making you have a numb butt when she could have used one of her more lethal skill or choose a more painful target instead. If you don't call that lucky then what do you call that? Considering that I kind of remember some of their skills are rather lethal when it shoots straight, can you imagine if it chases the target instead?" This time the other boys cannot hide their shudder at the mental image that statement generates.

Suddenly, a massive explosion can be heard from the direction of Velder gate which sends the boys running out of their tent with their weapons drawn, even Elsword who walks with obvious difficulty. As they reach outside of their tent, they see that the rest of the stronghold's occupants are already there as well, no doubt every bit as curious as they are on what is happening. After several minutes of nothing else happening, everyone starts to wonder what could have caused the explosion to happen when the sound of someone screaming their lungs out coming from the sky attracts their attention. As everyone looks up to the sky, they see several dots of color among the dark sky. The same dots increasingly grow large as they approach closer to the "village" until they are close enough to be identified. As if they share the same consciousness, the same thought crosses everyone's mind, 'Are those… people… flying with a cloud trail behind them?"

The "Flying" people soon reaches the distance close enough to be identified and the Elgang boys immediately recognizes them as each of them sweatdrops at the sight, unable to believe what they are seeing. Elsword soon gets the ball rolling as he whispers in disbelief, "Aisha…?" Chung continues the flow seamlessly, "… Ara…" before Raven finalize the list, "… Rena… and Eve." He looks at the other two and asks the question that he himself is afraid of the answer; "Do I want to know how this happened…?" the other two silently shakes their heads as their eyes are locked on their female comrades literally flying through the air like loose cannonballs, "Yeah… probably not…."

As the females approaches closer to the ground, people starts scrambling away from the potential landing area. Soon enough, three booms followed by cloud of dusts covering the girls from view as they touch down. The reason of the lack of the last boom becomes apparent when a certain nasod floats gently to the ground with her long hair whipping behind her as if she is riding the wind itself. Once her feet safely lands on the ground, she takes a look around her looking rather confused about the "welcoming committee" before clearing her throat and flashes them a bright smile with her fingers making the "V" pose as she speaks cheerily, "Mission accomplished."

The remaining three girls finally walks out of the dust cloud, all of them covered in soot and ash complete with some burn marks on several spots of their clothes though fortunately nothing that would be too revealing. Aisha immediately comments, "Note to self, never EVER let Eve anywhere near anything explosive… ESPECIALLY if they are shaped like dolls…." Both Rena and Ara nods their heads in unison silently before all three throws a look at the silver haired nasod. Eve in return turns back to them before replying back, "But… they are so cute… like… I even take this dud one as souvenir." She puts forward her arms and sure enough, a red and white colored ragged doll is held between them. The other three girls immediately falls over backward and faint on the spot at the sight of the item which immediately goes up the rank of their most hated things.

Rena opens her eyes and immediately regrets it as she realize her head is pounding as if a horde of Phorus are playing tambourine inside her brain. A gloved hand appears into her eye-sight with a mug containing a steaming brown liquid inside followed by a familiar adult male voice, "Drink this, it should help with the headache." The elf doesn't need further encouragement as she takes the mug and drinks some of the content which apparently is hot chocolate. Sure enough, the warm liquid makes its way inside her stomach and immediately warms up her body as well as reducing her pounding headache until they are less than an annoyance. With her mind clear, she turns toward the giver and gives him a grateful smile, "Thank you very much, Raven."

The blademaster nods silently before going back to his sitting spot across her, "So… I… don't know if I want to know but… what exactly happened back there?" Rena visibly winces, though she attempts to cover it by taking a sip of the hot beverage in her hands before replying, "Didn't Eve tell you already?" This time the blade master uses his thumb to point to his right which Rena immediately turns her head toward… to see the nasod queen in question is lying on the mattress with her eyes closed and a blissful smile on her face while hugging her spoil of war like a teddy bear. Rena sweatdrops at the sight, apparently in a loss of words as Raven decides to explain, "Couldn't get anything out of her, she has been distracted too much by that… doll. So… you tell me."

Rena nods once in understanding as her eyes sweeps the rest of the tent occupants, Aisha and Ara are still out cold so there will be no help coming from them either. Finally she lets out a sigh of surrender before she starts her tale. As it turns out, the girls' mission actually started out quite smooth as Rena's deduction had been spot on about all four girls has abilities that would allow them to move pass the obstacles easily. Even the wyverns that used to be a real pain to deal with are easily shot down by Eve's new homing bullets, a real life saver as far as the rest of the parties are concerned. The only brief sour note was encountering the Glitter Panzer general named Barradon who apparently was much stronger than the other panzers but even he couldn't stop them and therefore was forced to flee or die. As far as it goes, the mission has been a walk in the park… until they got to the boss… and everything went south.

The elf takes a deep breath before continuing, "… the moment that Eve saw the… huge puppet, she goes… well… excited I guess? She keeps charging toward it and… well… hugged it…." Chung raises his eyebrows as he listens and just has to ask, "Hugged it?" which Rena simply nods as response before continuing, "It got worse when the demon puppet apparently able to move his "soul" into another smaller puppet as medium since he also made multiple copies of himself and… well… Eve kind of… tried to catch all of them for her collection… except that they explode when touched." The elf points toward herself or to be exact, the burn marks on her dress to emphasize her point. She doesn't notice that both Raven and Chung blush slightly as they are reminded just how revealing the Grand Archer dress is and the burn marks aren't helping. Instead, Rena continues her tale, "Well, either way, finally when we nearly manage to subdue it, the demon tries to… well… suicide bomb, I guess is the right term and… well… you know what happens next."

Raven looks at the green-ish blonde elven markswoman in obvious look of disbelief, a rather strange look on the normally rather stoic man, before turning his head toward the still completely oblivious nasod queen. The blade master is currently regretting that he didn't stop the silver haired nasod from leaving before… something told him that had he known it would turn up like this, it might have been the better option at the time. Finally, he mutters to himself, "Well… what's done is done… we just have to do our best to adjust…." He turns back to the rest of the group when he hears Rena continues speaking, "… All in all, we manage to secure the bridge and allow the soldiers to take control of the situation over there but… the people still unable to escape due to the bridge nearly completely destroyed." She reaches toward the map of the city that the Velder knights had provided them with and points at the specific area on it which reads: Commercial Area before continuing, "From what I could see from up there, this route would probably be the best way to evacuate the people inside… the problem is… there has been rumor that a very strong demon general has been stationed here…."

The group continues to discuss their next move plan while Eve continues to sleep in the background, the doll grasped tightly between her arms. One can almost see the hearts floating around her as she hugs her precious toy tighter.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Spoiled

A week has passed since the Elgang manages to recover the Hope Bridge AND Commercial District. Slowly but surely, the humans appears to be slowly but steadily making progress in taking back their capital city from the Glitter demon army. With the demons losing their generals in Velder, thanks to the active help of the Elgang, the human army has managed to go as far as taking back half of their city with the last of the demons in Velder, led by Chloe pushed back as far as the Southern Gate.

Morale in the Velder human army has never been higher as the hope to actually be able to take back the pride of Velder kingdom fuels the soldiers to fight harder than ever. The entire Elgang themselves are treated like heroes; there is not a single person who doesn't recognize them. The gang even manages to get themselves a small house with enough rooms to accommodate them.

Elsword still spends most of his time goofing around, Aisha being his most often target would fight back with not so little shouting involved, the two often sighted running around the camp with the Dimension Witch waving her staff while throwing various promises of physical abuse and the Rune Slayer running away laughing his heart out after a prank.

Raven, who was outcast by the Velder aristocrats finds himself admired by the soldiers and, curiously, spends his time training those soldiers. Rena funnily ends up being given the role to take care of the now childlike Eve which, though she won't admit to anyone, secretly enjoys it. Chung and Ara strangely often found spending their time together that some people speculate that they are dating, much to the embarrassment and denial of the two. All in all, live in Velder has finally looking up for the gang as they decide that some period of rest will do them good.

It is during one of the finer days in the capital city, the sky is pleasantly blue and devoid of dark cloud as if driving back the demon army also clears up the sky at the same time. As usual, a certain Grand Archer is seen along with a silver haired teenage looking girl as they make their way through the commercial district that they recently managed to liberate. The latter of the two looks like a kid in a candy store as she wanders from stall to stall with glittering eyes while Rena sports a seemingly permanent smile as she looks around her and returns greeting from the people while at the same time keeping her attention to Eve. The fire had consumed everything that was there, leaving nothing but ash.

Thankfully, the reconstruction works seem to have already started. It still isn't as lively as it must have been before the demon invasion but there are signs that they are recuperating well. The elf notices that Eve seem to be hanging around a particular shop with her knees bent to get the items on the table on her eye level like a child. She tilts her head to the side for moment as she approaches the childlike nasod queen, "What is it, Eve? Are you interested in something?" The silver haired nasod turns to her for a moment with shining eyes with excitement as she replies, "Rena, look! This person is making sculptures with candies in the shape of interesting things!"

She peeks over the nasod's head and sure enough, there are candies with various shapes put on sticks which were then placed on the stand. Eve points toward some particular candy piece as she continues excitedly "Look, look! This one looks like your bow… and this one looks like moby and remy on top of each other! There is even Raven's blade here!" Rena looks at the pieces she is pointing at and gasps with her hand over her mouth as she notices them too, "Oh wow… you're right… that's quite an impressive feat of craftsmanship."

The man behind the stall laughs boisterously as he speaks, "Ahahaha, I'm glad you two think so. To be praised by two pretty ladies and heroes of Velder, I'm humbled." He winks at them before continuing again, "You know what? Take some if you want, free of charge. consider it as a thank you for saving us from the demon captivity." Eve suddenly turns her eyes toward the man excitedly; one can almost see a pair of cat ears on her with how excited she is as she speaks, "Really?! Then I want all of them!"

The stall owner blanches in surprise at the nasod queen's desire when Rena comes to his rescue with a nervous laugh as she apologizes, "I'm sorry, sir. Please, don't mind her." She turns to Eve as she admonish her gently, "Now now, Eve. That would be bad for the owner, isn't it? Let's just take one each, okay?" This time one can be forgiven for seeing those same imaginary cat ears to deflate in disappointment as the nasod makes a sulky expression as she whines, "But I want them all… They are so pretty~"

Rena laughs apologetically at the store owner as she puts her hand over Eve's head and gives her a gentle pat, "Okay, Let's just take one each for both of us and pay for the ones we get for the others, okay?" Eve whines once more before letting out a sulky, "Okay" which in turn causes the grand archer and the store owner to laugh merrily. They soon walk away from the stall with Eve happily licking the one in her hand shaped like her drones while Rena has hers, shaped like a phoru, in one hand and a paper bag containing the candies for the rest of the gang in another as she follows the nasod queen through the market with an amused expression as she shakes her head.

Contrary to what she said to the others a while ago, the elf still has some trouble in believing that the bouncing nasod in front of her is the same one who has had so little expression that even she has difficulty on reading her. She remembers that once Elsword even commented that the nasod can probably make a fortune on gambling since no one would be able to read her which even the grand archer has to admit was a rather accurate analysis.

That is not to say that she prefers the old version of the nasod queen though, far from it in fact. Rena seriously meant what she said at that time when she first heard of what happened to the girl that she consider a close friend. She really thinks that Eve's "Accidental" unlocking of her emotion happened for the best… that is not to say that it is entirely good, not even she is that naïve. She doesn't look far for the proof, while the old Eve can be said to be overthinking everything and planning to the last detail, at least she wouldn't be rushing headfirst to everything.

In contrast, the current version of the same nasod is… uncontrollable to say the least. She simply has no self-restraint unless someone specifically told her not to like she did before. In a way, the nasod reminds her of a toddler trapped in the body of a teenager, there is just that much of discrepancy between them. Her sharp ears catches the sound of the same nasod queen squeals in excitement once again for the dozenth time today and sighs outwardly before a small smile appears on her lips as a thought crosses her mind, 'Then again… I have to admit that I do enjoy spoiling her… once in a while that is….'

Back in the Elgang rented house, a certain Blade Master enters through the front door after another tiring day of training the Velder soldiers. The master swordsman finds himself somewhat regretting the fact that he accepted the request to train the soldiers. Not that they are terrible students, in contrary in fact as most of them definitely shows promise and skill, it simply that he finds himself having trouble taking the role of a trainer. Afterall, he isn't exactly a social person to begin with and has zero teaching experience to boot, thus he finds the new experience draining both mentally and physically.

Once he got home, the only thing he wants is just to lie down and take a brief nap until dinner time. He puts his hand on one of the nearby room's door handle and twists it open. Unfortunately for Raven, in his fatigue, he has mistaken his own room with one next to it which happens to be shared by Rena and Eve due to the latter has developed fear of sleeping by herself. Just as soon as he twists the knob open, the door slams outward with great force that shocked him followed by an avalanche of random items. Before he manages to react, he finds himself trapped under the avalanche leaving only his nasod arm above the pile of things. The last thought that crosses his mind as darkness overtakes him is: DAMN YOU RENA! STOP SPOILING HER!

Back in the market, a certain Grand Archer following the still bouncing Nasod Queen suddenly sneezes as she looks around in confusion, 'Did someone just gossip about me…?'


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Awe

Velder soldier camp is bustling with activity for once tonight as rows and rows of soldiers are lining up with their weapons ready. Vanessa corrects her glasses position as she surveys the troop's position before turning to the Elgang party minus Chung, Ara and Aisha who has sneaked away to Hamel to request for reinforcement, it had been quite a shock for everyone when the "Deadly Chaser" confessed that he's the crown prince of Hamel "Okay, if this goes as planned this should be the last battle to drive the demons out of the city. From there, I think we can manage on our own."

Her gaze turns toward the city's outer wall with a rueful smile as she continues, "Velder is not the capital city for no reason; the entire city is basically a fortress, defensive fight is our forte. The demon simply caught us by surprise when they attacked but this time we will be ready." The fact that the same has been the same reason why they have been having such trouble with retaking the city doesn't need to be said but understood.

The Velder commander turns once again toward the El party members, "So, let's get this plan straight once again. Our troops will launch an full out attack on the remaining demon army while all of you are slips through and takes out the commanders as well as the remaining demons defending the inner-side of the gate. Once you reach the top of the gate, you can send up a beacon to signal our reinforcement that the commanders are finished. With their leaders gone, the demons will be in disarray and it will give us chance to counter attack with pincer attack and charge through."

The remaining four of the Elgang members nods their head at the same time, Chung's message had arrived the day before to inform that their troops have arrived and ready to battle. He had also been the one to come up with the plan of attack which with unanimous agreement of everyone in Velder is the best bet on settling this battle once and for all. Elsword, the ever impatient one of the party smacks his fist and palm together with a grin, "Okay, let's do this. Those demons won't know what hit em."

A nod from the others and the mission is ready to start as everyone takes their position; Vanessa even climbs on her ride, a chariot that the Velder engineers manage to build out of the remains of the Glitter Vanguard. Due to its shape, Eve has taken to name it the "Moby Chariot" due to its likeness to her drone much to the amusement of everyone while Elsword had named the cannon at its back the "Butt missile" which earned him a smack on the head from Aisha. Once the knight is standing securely on the chariot, she draws her spear and yells to the top of her lung, "Everyone, CHARGE!"

As one, the soldier charges forward in formation with their weapons drawn. At the same time, demons pour out of their last stronghold as they meet the human's soldier with their own weapons. With each of the remaining Elgang members at the spear tip positions, each of the called out the strongest skills in their arsenals the moment the first of demon armies gets within reach, "Shockwave!", "Gungnir!", "Storm Blade!", "Amplify Spectrum: Giga Stream!" With their skills, they manage to clear out most of the demon's front lines before the rest of the human army rushes in to close the gap.

Following the plan, all four of them rush past the armies of both sides, killing only those demons that happen to stand in their ways. Rena being the most agile of the four reaches the rendezvous point just past the gate entrance before deicing to wait for the others. Eve comes next thanks to her flying ability allows her evade most of the demons though she did found resistance by those wyverns and archers followed closely by Raven.

They have to wait for a while before finally the last of their member comes into view… with a battalion of demons behind him. Raven wastes no time as he turns to Rena, "Hit the gate close switch, now! We'd be swarmed if they manage to enter!" The elf immediately tries to object, "But… Elsword is still…!" she is cut off when an energy needle shots past her and hits the switch, causing both of them to turn at their third member. Eve with her finger pointed at the direction of the switch looks at the other two with confused yet innocent expression as she points at Raven, "He asked for it."

The other two sweatdrops as Rena immediately shouts at the direction of the incoming redhead with her hands on either side of her mouth like an amplifier cup, "RUN, ELSWORD! RUN!" The Rune Slayer look as if he is going to shout something back before shutting back up instead as he sees the metal gate starting to descend. The redhead suddenly finds himself getting another burst of speed as panic overtakes his mind, "YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!"

With a speed that even impressed Rena, Elsword literally leaves the chasing demon horde behind him in the dust… before he trips over a stone halfway and tumbles the rest of the distance. His body barely clears the remaining space before the metal gate closes completely, leaving the demons chasing him on the other side. On the other hand, Elsword finds himself completely overshoot the distance before slamming on the wall behind Raven who manages to step out of the way just in time.

The red head boy groans in plain as he picks himself up while rubbing his abused face, "What the hell was that?! Were you guys planning to leave me behind or something?!" Rena raises her hands with her palms up as she laughs nervously, "Ahaha… no no no, of course not, Elsword. It was just… there was a… malfunction with the switch… yeah." The Rune Slayer turns toward the other two who suddenly finds everything else around them interesting… EXCEPT the magic swordman. Finally, he sighs as he speaks again, "Whatever… Well, so far its… good progress? What next?"

Just as soon as he said the last phrase, a loud horn sound resounds through the room followed by the sound of commotion inside the tower. Rena and Raven sighs as they share a thought, 'He just had to say it….' Eve in contrary, decide to get a more direct measure as she approaches the swordsman… and grabbed him the front of his shirt before slapping him across his face over and over, "IDIOT! WHY DID YOU SAY IT?! NEVER HEARD OF KARMA?!"

Rena is the first one to react as she turns to the door at the other end of the room, "I hear footsteps approaching… lots of them. They are coming." The others immediately comes to attention, even Eve finally releases the abused Elsword from her grip while Raven sighs as he speaks coolly, "Not surprising considering the situation. So, what do we do now? Better do it fast before they break in that door."

Rena grabs a blue potion from her pocket and downed it in one go as she feels her magic power recovers before readying her bow, "Well… the best way to deal with an ambush is to reverse it so…." She draws her bowstring as the weapon glows red before closing her eyes to concentrate on her hearing as she speaks to the others, "Move behind me, after I shoot Raven and Elsword will lead our charge while Eve and I would follow to support." The others nod without any complain as they moves into position, waiting for the Grand Archer's signal.

The party doesn't have to wait for long as they hear footsteps and familiar grunts from the demons right outside of the door. By the sound of it, it seem like the demons has carried a battering ram of sort to break the door yet Rena remains calm. Suddenly, the elf opens her eyes as she shouts right at the same time as the wooden door separating them from the demon soldiers breaks with a loud bang, "Phoenix Strike!" As soon as she releases her bowstring, a massive phoenix flies out of her weapon toward the attacking demons, catching them by surprise as most of them instantly burned to dead. Further signal is no longer necessary as Raven immediately jumps into action, literally, followed by Elsword close behind and Eve providing cover fire with her lasers followed by Rena who tries to take out the dark elf troops trying to snipe them .

The battle inside the tower simply cannot go any better as with their combined breakthrough power and strategy of keeping a small party to infiltrate proof to be a great advantage. The demon army soon finds that fighting in such cramped space as the inside of the gate prevents them from using their superior number against the smaller and more mobile enemies. One by one the demon commanders defending each floors fall before the Elgang's combined onslaught, not one of them are given second chance to come back another time. Even the mighty demon scientist with his vast array of demonic potions can stop them although it seems that his extensive research and experiment has allowed him to escape death completely by extracting his soul away and escape.

Soon, the party of four reaches the top of the gate, easily spotting the signal tower as they rush toward it… only to be stopped on their track as a female voice coming from behind them. To be exact, the voice comes from the figure with dark skin with pink hair in spiky hairstyle that three of the party members immediately identify as Chloe, "You VERMINS! How long are you people going to get in my way?!" Rena narrows her eyes at her counter-part as she shouts back, "As long as you and the demons continue to endanger Elrios, Chloe! Dark elves supposed to protect our world from demons invasion, why are you fighting with them, instead?!"

Chloe grinds her teeth as she shouts back, "Shut up! Protecting the world? Don't make me laugh; you abandoned us in that damned place!" She reached into her pocket and takes a stone with runes etched on it from inside, "This world forsakes us to be damned… and now, I'll destroy it!" The dark elf raises the stone above her head as it glows and a dark portal appears behind her before she leaps away. Rena visibly shivers as she warns the others, "Something is coming from inside the portal… something huge and powerful!"

Suddenly, a huge paw comes out of the portal followed by the creature's head before finally it emerges completely out of it. The creature has glowing purple eyes and easily dwarfs all of them; even the huge ancient phoru barely reaches half the size of it. The creature looks at the El party and lets out a massive roar that shakes the air around them. Eve lets out a shriek of terror as she points at the creature, "What the hell is that thing?!" Rena visibly pales as she looks at the creature, "Dark Nephilim… Patron god of Dark Elves… Chloe, what have you done…?"

Elsword, being the most hot-blooded of the quartet wastes no time and he charges at the creature with a loud battlecry… only to be easily rebuffed by the creature with barely a swipe of its claw. Raven barely manages to catch him before the red head hits the floor as he turns toward the others, "Run toward the tower, NOW!" His shout manages to pull both Eve and Rena from their shock as they nods and turns around as they run to the other direction while the blade master helps Elsword back on his feet before following behind the other two with the red-head in tow.

Probably due to its massive size and its forced summoning from the other world, the Dark Nephilim seem to have difficulty moving and catching up to the group though its attacks prevents the party from completely outrunning it. As they ran, Rena spots a lever contraption on the side of the wall and shouts to Raven, "Raven, what does that lever do?" Raven being an ex-soldier of Velder, immediately answers, "That's it, that's the lever to raise the separation wall. Hit it right before it passes it, it might be able to immobilize it!"

The party manages to reach for the lever with Elsword hitting it with the flat side of his sword as he pass it, successfully turning it just in time before the monster slams head-first against it. The wall crumbles from the impact but it has manages to bury the monster's neck under it. Raven's yell of "Now, Attack!" comes with no opposition as the four adventurers throw everything they got at it. Unfortunately, their combined attack doesn't seem to cause much damage on it as it soon shakes off the rubbles along with them with a mighty shake of its head as it rises back on its feet, causing the Elparty to go back to running away from its' chase once again.

Unfortunately, the monster seems to have gotten tired of their annoyance as it opens its mouth wide as the inside of its mouth glows with energy. Rena being the most sensitive with magical energy turns her head around and gasped in surprise, "Everyone, Watch out! Its trying to destroy us and the tower in one blast!" The rest of the party turns around at the same time and immediately spots the danger, Eve has no hesitation as she calls out, "Amplify Spectrum: Giga Stream!" right at the same time as the monster fires its own energy blast.

The beams met right in the middle as it fights for dominance but it is clear that Eve is clearly outmatched as the monster's energy blast pushes hers back. Rena with the remaining of her magic power shoots another Phonex strike to assist but even their combined power are no match against the monster's blast. They both visibly straining themself yet her beam inevitably subsides as she ran out of energy to maintain it while the purple energy blast from the Nephilim heads straight toward them.

Raven immediately jumps in front of him with his nasod core in defense position, "Everyone, Get behind me! Elsword, assist me!" The Rune Slayer stands next to the blade master with his great sword also in defense position as he uses the flat side as a shield. The blast hits and the two males in the group immediately feel their shield giving in but maintain their best in maintaining their position, hoping to at least outlast the attack.

Unfortunately, even they are no match against the might of the beast as all four of them are thrown back by the force of the attack. The party is exhausted, there is simply nothing more they can do, the monster is simply too much for them. Although they manage to protect the signal tower, they are now at the mercy of the monster with nothing else they can do against it. No matter how they cut it, it seems to be the end of the road for the four of them. On the other hand, the nephilim also shows signs of weakening, it seem that shooting that blast has also taken a lot of power from it but it is still very much mobile.

The monster roars in displeasure as its enemies has managed to withstand its attack and live. As if intending to finish the job, it opens its mouth once again as it once again gather its energy for another blast although it apparently takes much longer than the first one. Raven groans as he tries to stand up once again but soon falls back to the ground as his beat up body refuses to follow his command, the rest of the party can't even move anymore or even do anything else than look. Suddenly, a figure with ankle-length hair jumps down and land right between the party and the monster. The figure turns to the still down Elsword and speaks gently in feminine voice, "You've turned really strong haven't you, Elsword? You guys have done well, just rest." The woman lifts her sword on her shoulder as she turns back to the Nephilim, "Leave the rest to me."

She points her weapon toward the monster as she speaks, her tone sounds confident yet there is no sign of arrogance in it, "This is as far as you go, demon. Back to where you come from or die by my blade, the choice is yours." The nephilim seem undaunted, almost insulted in fact, as with a mighty roar, it sends the energy blast it has been charging on toward the swordswoman. The female warrior falls into her battle pose as she speaks, "So be it."

The swordswoman closes her eyes as if to concentrate her power on her blade, causing it to glow bright red. The moment the blast approaches her, she swipes the blade down in front of her, "Sword of Victory!" The blade releases a bright energy as if it has grows huge right before their eyes and cuts the blast right in the middle. However, the woman is far from finished as she charges straight toward the monster, dragging her blade over the ground, causing sparks to appear over the point of contact and gives the monster an upward slash the moment she reaches right under its' chin. The sheer strength behind the slash throws the nephilim's head upward, sending it reeling.

Without a pause, she spins her body and darts back and forth between the monster's legs, slashing each of them every time she passes them with great speed. The injured legs soon cause the massive creature to fall as they no longer able to support its weight. As the creature falls down, the swordswoman leaps to the air before slashing her sword downward diagonally, sending a red crescent wave toward the demon's head, "Saber Extinction!" The sword wave cleaves the monster clean in two before she lands back on the ground and turns around as she sheathe her sword back on its place. Behind her, the nephilim lets out a last roar before disintegrating into ash.

The party of four looks at the female warrior who swipes her long hair with the back of her hand with undisguised awe. Elsword delivers the coup de grace which sends the rest of the party reeling as he says in clear disbelief, "Sis?" The remaining looks at the boy in complete shock before turning back toward the woman who by the light of the moon no longer blocked by dark cloud, is now clearly visible. The resemblance between them is uncanny, down to the eye colors and hair yet… as far as the party are concerned, those are the only semblance between them. Eve finally delivers the punch line that everyone is thinking about, "THAT is your SISTER?!"

* * *

AN: If you're wondering about the lesser quality of this chapter... its because my BETA is busy right now. I'll get her to BETA the chapter ASAP and replace this after I got the better version. Please be patient~ :)


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Admiration

The entire Elgang with addition of Vanessa and the Red haired swordswoman who had saved them from Dark Nephilim is sitting around a table at the living room of the gang's rented house which currently serves as a meeting room. The female swordswoman bows slightly as she opens the discussion with an introduction, "Nice to meet all of you. My name is Elesis, Commander of Red Knight mercenary. We were employed to fight the demons in Hamel when messenger from Velder consisting, to our surprise, Hamel's missing crown prince came to ask for help to free Velder. I volunteered while my second in command, Penensio is taking charge temporarily during my absence." Eve raises her hand high above her head excitedly as she asks the question that everyone else in the table wants the answer as well, "Are you really Elsword's sister?"

The red haired knight, Elesis smiles softly as she answers, "That is correct, Elsword is my little brother. I had to leave him when I was chasing the captain of the demons called 'Scar'. During that chase, I ended up thrown into another world, parallel to this world and participate in this group called "Grand Chase" until I found a way to come back here." The Nasod queen turns to look at Elsword and Elesis a few times before finally speaking to Elsword, "How can you end up being such a fail with a sister this awesome? You sure you're not adopted?" The younger of the red head immediately protests with a "Hey!" but Elesis interjects him from going any further than that, "I apologize if Elsword has been causing trouble for you. Since we lost our parents early in life, it should have been my duty to raise him properly though I failed in that regard, also."

Rena raises her palms as she speaks nervously, "Ahaha, don't worry… Elsword grows up to be a good boy because of your guidance. He might not be the brightest of people but he always pulls through when it counts. If anything, we have to thank you for raising him to be who he is, he did safe us from certain death several times." The Grand Archer throws a glance to the others for help which fortunately Aisha manage to notice as she adds her opinion, though with rather bored expression as she speaks, "Well, I guess we'd have way more trouble in our journey without him…."

Elesis offers the Elgang a smile before her expression turns serious as she turns to Vanessa who has been silent so far, "Now that we have successfully pushes the glitter demons out of Velder, what is your next strategy?" The velder knight captain corrects her glasses as she replies, "Well, with the demons out of the city, we has the advantage in defensive fight against them. The only trouble I see in sight is that the demon world remains open means that there is no limit on how many demons will continue to pour out of it. Velder as a city is very self-sufficient so there should be no worry as far as resource is concerned but even we can't last a siege that lasts forever."

The red haired knight nods once before replying, "I figure that is the case… we are of similar situation in Hamel. We think there might be connection between the power of the elemental priestesses that are supposedly holding the pillar of our world and the portal opening. Of course, it is at best a guess but considering our situation, it is hardly a wild one." Vanessa puts her chin between her thumb and index finger in deep thought as she speaks, "That might not be a stretch… but how do you come to that conclusion to begin with? Is it related to the absence of Prince Chung on this table?"

Elesis nods before speaking again, "As you might have known, one of the priestess live in Hamel, The current Water Priestess, Sasha. What you might not know about is that she had recently been missing and soon after, the demon world portal was opened. The problem is also connected to the crown prince because the priestess was not the only one who had gone missing; King Helphutt who had been leading the initial defense against the demon army has also been missing. We fear that both of them have been kidnapped by the demons." The knight reach into her pocket and takes out an item from inside before putting it on the table, it is a pair of medallion with foreign engraving on it, "We found this at the priestess' temple, our guess was the priestess had fought back against her kidnapper and managed to tear this off their person."

As she speaks, Elesis throws her glance toward another member of the table which prompts the others to turn at the same direction. Ara is biting her lower lips while her fingers clenches against the hem of her dress's fabric tightly while her eyes are glued to the item on the table, "That… used to belong to my brother… Aren Haan." Half of the table members who had stayed in Velder widen their eyes at the revelation, they know that the spear-mistress has been in search for her brother but for the said brother potentially be the big-bad of the demon army….

Silence that seem to stretch forever dawns on the table before the black-haired girl finally speaks again, "I… understand if you guys want to leave me behind… I…" She never finishes her next sentence as she finds herself interrupted by a stinging pain on her left cheek as the force of the blow forces her face to the side, almost sending her to the floor, even. Ara places her palm on her abused body part to look at her assailant; Eve had reached across the table and slapped her before anyone else on the table manages to stop her.

The silver-haired beauty's hand remains in its position as she speaks, her voice laced thick with anger, "Say that again and I'll slap you again no matter how many times until you get that idea out of your skull." The nasod queen soon proves that she is not joking the moment Ara speaks the next word, "But…." As her hand once again flies as she back-handed the girl's other cheek, this time sending the Sakra Devanam to the floor, "If you're impudent enough to think for one second that we would leave you behind because of this, then you seriously need to have your sense beaten back into your head since you obviously has lost it."

Rena rises from her seat and pulls Eve back before speaking toward Ara as she pats the nasod on the head to calm her down, "Though its… more violent than necessary… Eve has a point, Ara. Do you really have such low faith on us to believe that we will judge you based on another's action?" The spear-mistress has the grace to blush as she shakes her head silently which prompts the elf to smile, "Instead of that, isn't it better if we try to find a way to return your brother's sense? Can't you believe on us just a little bit more?"

The black-haired girl looks at the rest of the table's occupant, all of whom are nodding at her direction, before picking herself from the floor and sits back on her chair, "You're right… I'm sorry…. I guess it was the shock that makes me lose my mind there…." The response rouse a smile from Rena as she responds gently, "Better." The elf then turns back to Elesis as her expression turns back to complete seriousness, "So… what do you propose we do?"

Instead of Elesis, it is Elsword who chips in on his opinion as he stands up abruptly and punches his palm with a wide grin on his face, "We find him and kick his ass, of course. What else is there to do?" The rest of the table occupant rolls their eyes at the Rune Slayer's suggestion, Aisha in particular who is sitting right next to him grabs the red-head by the hair and slams his head to the wooden table with a loud "BANG!". The swordsman picks himself up from the table and immediately turns to the Dimension Witch, "What the hell that was for?!" Instead of Aisha, it is Raven who answers him coolly, "If it is that simple, we won't be having this meeting to begin with. Now, sit back down."

Elsword apparently doesn't appreciate being told what to do as he prepares his comeback when another female voice freezes him on his track, "Elsword!" The male in question gulps once as he slowly turns toward the speaker, he has heard that tone so many times during his childhood. The only times that his sister use it always means one thing and one thing only: She is NOT amused… much less by his act. The said sister looked at him right in the eyes with her eyes narrowed sharply which causes the boy to gulps once more; he can almost see the fire burning behind her as she speaks again, "Sit!"

In a move that shocked the rest of the gang, the rune slayer shakily lowers himself back on his chair and wisely keeps silent. The rest of the gang looked at the swordsman with their jaws hanging before turning back to Elesis in disbelief. The knight sighs as she speaks to the rest around the table, "Seems like we has showed you something unsightly… I apologize for that." Suddenly, she finds her hands clasped by a pair of thin hands belonging to a certain nasod queen who is looking at her with sparkling eyes, "That's it, join our group, please~ We need you!"

Elesis looks at the excited nasod in shock, barely able to respond with only the words, "Uh… thank you… I guess…." until Rena manages to peel the Battle Seraph off of her, "Calm down, Eve… we need to finish this meeting first." Eve obediently slinks back on her chair though her sparkling eyes remains fixed on Elesis who is really starting to get nervous about it, so much that the knight appreciates it so much when Rena decides to get the conversation back on topic by clearing her throat, "Ahem… So… your theory does seem to make a lot of sense…. What do you propose that we do now?"

The red knight commander turns to them as she speaks, "Like I mention before, Hamel is currently in similar situation as Velder if not worse. There is a primary difference between them… As you might have heard before, Hamel is a city built upon a stone that overflows with water. One of the water priestess duties is to support and control the output of the water to make sure that the city isn't sinking." The knight pauses for a moment to take a sip from the prepared tea in front of her before continuing, "Unfortunately, with her gone, the city is slowly deteriorating and sinking into the water. We are facing a race against time here but the demons certainly aren't keen on making it easy for us, the fact that they have adapted to survive underwater is an additional height of difficulty that certainly isn't welcome."

She turns to Vanessa as she continues, "Assuming that you too agree to our hypothesis, I'd like to borrow the strength of the "Elgang" to help with our mission in searching and rescue the water priestess. In exchange, I will send some of my knights to help in defending Velder. It is a poor exchange, I know, but I am of the belief that solving this issue faster is the main focus here… and help from the infamous Elgang certainly would be invaluable to reach that goal even if only one second sooner."

Vanessa closes her eyes for a moment as if considering the proposal before finally answering, "For all intent and purpose, the "Elgang", as you call them, is not part of Velder army so the decision to your proposition would be their own. In the event that they agree though, I won't deny that it would leave a huge hole in our defense of the city. Still, you made a valid point of having them helping the search will certainly do more good than simply helping in an endurance contest with no end in sight. If they accept your proposal, then you got my agreement on that exchange too."

Both knight commanders turns toward the rest of the Elgang for confirmation which prompts them to look at each other, their journey together so far has allowed them to pretty much understand each other's intention with but a glance, before Raven finally answers as their representative fFollowed by nods by the rest of the party, "To Hamel it is, then." Elesis smiles as she stands up from her seat, "So we're all in accordance, we have a ship ready to depart for Hamel on the dock… but I think all of you would like some time to prepare. So… Let us depart tomorrow morning, is that satisfactory for everyone?" The red knight's proposal receives nods all around which visibly raises her mood as she smiles wider, "Well, let's end this discussion here for today…." Again, agreement comes unanimously from the rest of the table occupant as all of them.

Once Vanessa exits the house, Elesis's right arm moves like a striking black mamba as she reaches for a certain Rune Slayer's ear and grips it between her fingers and twists it painfully before dragging him away. Before she reaches the front door, she stops and turns halfway around once more before speaking again kindly toward the rest of the Elgang, "Oh, I forgot one thing. Do you guys mind if I stay here for the night too? I think I have a lot to catch up to and intend to have a long talk with Elsword, here." Although the knight is smiling kindly, it is obvious that she won't tolerate any answer other than "Yes." Which fortunately, no one even considering giving her one… well… other than the one who is feeling as if his sister is trying to pull his ears off, that is… much to the amusement of the onlookers.

Once both redheads are out of the house, Raven turns to his comrades with a rare grin on his lips as he asks, "Agrees on keeping her around?" The rest of the gang returns his question with grins of their own as they raises their hands as one. Aisha in particular adds her opinion, "If she can get Elsword to behave, I'll gladly pay for her service as long as need be. She can set the price for all I care." For once, the Dimension Witch got no opposition in her idea. It is official, the Elgang will do their darnest to keep Elesis from leaving their group.

* * *

AN: Unbeta-ed Chapter 7. I'm sorry for subjecting you guys (Readers) to my poor excuse of English... but I can't contact my BETA as she is busy with RL. I'll replace this chapter with Beta-ed version as soon as she's back and available.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Nostalgic

The "Elgang" journey across the ocean toward the Fluone has gone rather smooth other than several demons leaping from the ocean as they try to sink them. Fortunately, none of them pose serious threat and are easily taken care of. It took them nearly a week of travel but, considering they are leaving toward a completely different continent, it is considered a fairly short trip.

A shout from a certain Nasod queen at the top mast immediately brings everyone to attention as she speaks excitedly, "I see land! It looks to be a city!" The captain of the ship heads toward the bow of the ship with his telescope before speaking, "We're approaching Hamel, full speed ahead!" As soon as he said it, the sails are lowered to catch maximum amount of wind to improve acceleration. It seems that although the ship is equipped with an engine that allows it to move in windless situations, wind on the sail remains the best way to go.

Meanwhile, Eve leaps from her position at the top of the mast and glides gracefully until she lands on the deck. Normally, they would get Rena up there due to her significantly better vision but due to the revelation that Rena apparently doesn't deal with seasickness well, which forces the Elven archer spending most of her time in her cabin or on the window of said cabin as she empties her stomach content to the ocean, Eve has taken the role instead.

As the rest of the Elgang gathers, Elesis smiles as she looks at the Nasod, "Thank you for the hard work. By the way, I've been meaning to ask… but can all nasod can 'Glide' in the air like you do?" Eve tilts her head slightly as she answers, "Well… not all… but it wasn't a rare ability either during the glory days of Nasod Kingdom." The red knight scratches her chin slightly as she answers, "Ah, it's just… I had heard rumors of someone with similar ability before… You don't happen to have a sister or two, do you?"

Eve puts her cheek on her palm as if supporting it as she thinks for a little before answering, "Well… We nasod-race aren't exactly 'born' like you humans are… so the closest thing to a sibling for me would be… someone who was created at the same production line as me…." The rest of the gang is now paying attention to the nasod, all of them cannot help but get a foreboding feeling of disaster as the nasod queen continues, "Well… with that definition… I do have a sister and… a half-sister… I guess?"

This time, it is Aisha's turn to ask, "Do you know what happened to your 'sisters'? I'm asking because when we found you the first time, you were the only one in the… pod?" Eve thinks to herself once again before answering, "Well… I've been wondering about that too…. Apple was supposed to be in charge of Nasod research and production but… as you said, I couldn't find her in Altera when I restarted King. Proto was missing too… but it isn't a surprise since she is always with Apple."

Raven perks up at the mention of the nasod "sisters", in particular about one of them as he asks, "That one you mentioned… Apple. You said she's in charge of Nasod research? That means she's knowledgeable about Nasod inner workings right?" This time Eve shrugs her shoulders as she answers, "Kind of… I guess… I mean… I always see her tinkering with things, so… why do you ask, anyway?"

Raven shrugs before raising his nasod arm, "I want to see if she can do something about this." The rest of the gang responds to the blademaster with a collective "ahh" as they understand his answer. It is an open secret among them that though Raven has resolved not to use the arm as much as possible, it is still a bitter reminder of what he had lost and the chaos he helped create. Eve taps her chin with her index finger as she thinks to herself, "Well… she might be able to do something…. Once I remember that she kind of… modified one of her toy into some kind of transforming nasod using only a screw driver…."

As the nasod is distracted, Raven turns to the other members of the gang and gestures toward the battle seraph slightly with his head. The other members immediately understand his silent message and nods back silently in return. It might be a good idea to find this missing "sister" and see if she can do more than just fixing Raven's nasod arm… like fixing the little queen of nasod's emotional circuit, maybe…. With that in mind, all of them disperse to their respective rooms to prepare for disembarking.

An hour passed as the ship finally nears Hamel Port before the ship suddenly pulls to a stop before reaching the harbor. The gang turns to each other as Elesis asks the captain, "What happened? Why are we stopping here?" The captain, a man with a face full grey beard, answers, "There is a problem at the port. My men have received communication from the land that the port is completely occupied by the demons which prevents us from making it to the port. It seems that the demons had somehow got wind of our arrival and has prepared an ambush. I'll discuss with my crew on what to do now that we can't land on Hamel."

Rena wobbles like a heavily drunk person as she walks to the edge of the ship, still looking rather green on her face and her normally luscious greenish-blonde hair has lost its glow and sticking up all over the place. She looks toward the harbor before speaking, "Are those black things the demons you're talking about? They certainly are different than the ones we had in Velder…." Elesis stands next to her and nods, "I'm impressed you can see them from this far without a telescope... but yes, those are the demons we're facing in Velder. Due to their looks, we call them "Shadow Demons"."

The elf nods weakly as she responds back, "Fitting… Well, tell the captain to start the ship once again… I'll take care of those things waiting at the port…." She readies her bow and points it toward the port and makes a motion as if she is preparing to shoot. The Grandmaster next to her looks at her in confusion, "What are you trying to…?"

This time the archer snaps at her, "Look… I DO NOT want to stay on this damn boat for another SECOND longer! Do you know what I had to go through this past week?! I could barely eat anything without having to throw them back out minutes later! There's so much water outside and not a drop of it is drinkable! The ONLY drink they have in abundance was RUM! Either you tell those sailors to start this blasted ship up again or I'll have it SINK right here and swim the rest of the way myself, sharks be damned!"

Elesis unconsciously steps back from the elf and gulps as she stutters, "Umm… ok… I'll… tell them to do that. Please calm down, Rena." As the Red Knight commander scurries away, she passes the rest of the gang and takes one last peek over her shoulder toward the grand archer and suppresses a shudder as she whispers, "I swear I saw a demonic apparition behind her… would she really do that?."

At which Elsword and Aisha nods at the same time as they whispers back, "Yeah… now you know… Rena is seriously scary when angry… and… do we really want to know the answer to the second question?" The older sister takes one last glance at the irate Grand Archer's back and shudders before shaking her head as she walks away to talk with the captain, '… I guess not….'

Raven looks at the still fuming Rena at the distance with pale face as he speaks, "I've… never seen her as angry as that…." The blade master shudders as he suddenly senses how close he was to being killed when he had showed up in front of her the first time as an enemy. Ara nods silently as she suddenly rubs her cheek as she immediately decided that it was lucky that Eve was the one who slapped her back in Velder, somehow she senses that if that had been Rena… she might not have lived to tell the tale….

A few minutes later, everyone on board feels the ship jerking to life as it once again approaches the port, Elesis obviously has somehow managed to convince the captain to start the engine once again. Once the ship reaches certain distance away from the port, Rena took a deep breath as her bow starts glowing red, she points her bow toward the general direction of the port and draws the bowstring before releasing it with a yell, "Phoenix Strike!"

As before when it was done in Velder, a huge flaming bird shoots out of the Grand Archer's bow as it heads straight toward the target. However, it is obvious that somehow the bird has received some-kind of boost as the size of the bird is visibly different and it let out a long screech as is travels across the sea with tremendous speed straight toward the port. The captain who has just joined them back out of curiosity looks toward the port with his telescope with his jaw hanging, "Wow… That flaming bird of yours has burned every single demon waiting on the port… This is our chance. Full speed ahead! We have to reach the port before those demons regroup!"

Rena walks back to the rest of the group, all of them sporting expressions of shock before Aisha finally manages to speak, "How… I swear your phoenix wasn't that strong before… did you undergo some secret training or something?" The archer shakes her head as she fishes a piece of paper from her pocket, "The soldiers cleaning up the Southern Gate found this, it seems that Chloe dropped it when she escaped. I studied it and turn out; it was written by a famous adventurer containing tips on strengthening certain skill. I don't know how Chloe got her hand on this… but the tip is really useful as you can see."

Suddenly, a certain nasod queen's voice broke the silence among the gang as she gushes, "Rena… is… so… cool!" prompting all of them to look at the Nasod queen with pale faces and matching sweatdrops. The silver-haired girl has her hands clasped in front of her chest and her golden colored eyes are sparkling, one can almost see the hearts floating around her even, as she looks every bit like a love-struck girl. The rest of the gang immediately receives deep foreboding feeling inside them as they thinks as one, 'We need to find this "Apple"… fast!'


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Dumbfounded

Raven was standing in an area modeled suspiciously similar to the place where they had fought the nasod copy of himself. Behind him were Rena and Eve, all of them were wearing a red tag and checking their equipment. On the other side was Elsword, Aisha and Ara wearing similar tags though with blue colors instead of red. The area was circular and a clear blue dome covered them on all side with several spellcasters chanting outside to keep the barrier up. The Blademaster sighs as he remembers the event that started all this and wonders how the hell he got roped into it to begin with.

FLASHBACK

The elgang was sitting around a round table, this time the entire team was present and accompanying them was a man with a tall and muscular build and spiky hairstyle wearing dark brown armor and red cape. The latest addition to the growing elgang turned to her second in command, "Report."

The man nodded once before producing a stack of files of documents from behind him and passed it around the table for everyone before speaking, "In front of you is the current report that our force managed to compile so far, including known enemy force and damage report…." He continued his explanation for about half an hour as he tried to get the rest of the participants up to speed with the situation. Even Elsword with his usual short attention span was paying attention… though it could have been due to his sister sitting next to him and Aisha at the other side ready to step on his foot with her heels to stop him from sleeping through.

Raven raised his hand as he looked at a page of the report, "The report mentioned that you've been getting help from a non-army supporter. What exactly does that mean?" Instead of Penensio, it was Elesis who answered it, "Well, as you know, Hamel was a Port City. That means that we're getting rather steady influx of travellers. Some of them were adventurers with some considerable skills, one of the helpers happen to be one of my companions at the other world who apparently was also accidentally taken there by force and followed me back here to help."

At the last sentence, the red-haired knight turned to Rena as she spoke, "Speaking of which… She was also an elf like you were, Rena. I rarely find elves to begin with so I want to ask you something… do all Elves really look similar to each other?" The Grand Archer put her finger below her lips as she tried to answer, "Well… kind of…. At least from human perspective, I guess. You see, Elves live far longer than humans. When you see the same face for hundreds of years, even the most subtle difference would be more than enough to identify one from the other."

Suddenly, the door of the room slams open as a female figure emerges as she shouts angrily, "Elesis! I heard you came back from Velder with reinforcement, why the hell did I end up having to hear it from some random soldier instead of you?!" The table occupants turns toward the direction of the door and sees a woman with short bob hair and a pair of pointed ears which easily identifies the person as an elf.

As the new elf approaches the table, the elgang finally able to identify her features clearer and as one, all of them raised their eyebrows before turning toward their resident Grand Archer. Elesis wasn't kidding, the resemblance between the two were uncanny almost as if they were looking at an alternate version of Rena from their height and color of the eyes down to the size of their bust. The only differences between them were simply their hairstyle and clothes. Had Rena cut her hair and changed her clothes, they won't even be able to tell the difference.

The said Grand Archer however was looking at the new arrival with her jaws hanging and eyes widen to the size of a diner plate. She raised her finger as she points to the other elf, "Mo… mo… MOTHER?! What are you doing here?!" Her shout immediately brought the table occupants back from the Grand Archer, each of them with wide eyes as they turned toward the new elf so fast that one might wonder if their necks would snap due to the force as they spoke as one, "MOTHER?!". The other elf turned toward Rena as if just noticing her before speaking cheerily, "Oh, if it isn't Rena. How long has it been since we saw each other? 100 years? No, was it 150? Wait… YOU'RE the reinforcement?"

Several minutes later, the Elgang finally able to establish some facts about the newcomer: 1. Her name was Lime. 2. She was Elesis' comrade during her adventure at the other world 3. Apparently she specializes in kicks, 4. Yes, she was Rena's mother despite that she didn't look a day over 19 and finally, 5. She acted NOTHING like Rena.

The last was especially apparent when she was hitting the marble table while laughing like a sailor in a bar after she hears how her daughter threatened to sink the boat if she didn't get her way, much to the embarrassment of the said daughter. Once she manages to catch her breath, the elf turns to the Nasod queen before speaking, "Well, as far as she's concerned… I have good news and bad news for you guys. Good news first, Yes, I've met this "Apple" before and yes, she has this girl who looks like carbon copy of her with her… Bad news was, I have no idea where they currently are, both of them left about a month ago and could be anywhere in this continent or beyond. They most likely survived despite the demon invasion though; if they manage to give me a run for my money in duel then I can't imagine some random demon troop would be able to defeat them."

At the mention of "duel", Elsword perked up as he spoke, "A duel? You mean like fighting each other for a trophy of sort? Where do I sign in?" Lime grinned as she answered, "Oh, you didn't know? Hamel was famous for its arena. When you're in the arena, they would erect a barrier of sort that would allow you to fight to your heart's content without holding back yet still won't accidentally kill your opponent. You can get points for winning that you can exchange for rewards but it's mostly just for fun and bragging right. We have steady influx of adventurers so there was no shortage of challengers here, hence why I've been staying here. It's also a good way to test your ability."

At Elsword's expression, the rest of the elgang put their foreheads against their palm, 'Great… another battle maniac….' Elesis looked at them before speaking with a rueful smile, "Sometimes, it's necessary. Sometimes the best and fastest way to earn the respect of the soldiers was to prove your ability. I'd reckon that you'd find yourself having to go in there sooner or later. I did."

FLASHBACK END

The meeting ended a few hours ago and true enough, they found out that their reputation back at the previous continent means nothing to the people in Hamel. Apparently, in this country, strength is the currency and for them to get anywhere with the resident, then they have to prove themselves in the arena. As the arena has the rule of three on three battle, they decide to enter as two groups with only Chung and Elesis abstaining. The former being the crown prince and the latter an acknowledged commander, there was no reason for them to join. Instead, they have taken the role of the fight commentator….

Fortunately, both teams have literally blasted through the competitions… and now they have to face each other. Elesis can barely hide her excitement from the podium as she turns to Chung next to her, "Prince Chung, I am to believe that you has been accompanying them during their journey from Elder all the way to here. Which side do you think will win?"

The Deadly Chaser taps his chin with a grin as he answers, "That… would be an extremely hard question, Commander Elesis. Both sides has their pros and cons, and most importantly, they know each other's ability intimately. On one side, Raven's team has highly agile members; In fact, I have seen Raven able to cross tens of meters with one leap, Rena and Eve are also incredibly versatile fighters. In my opinion, rather than firepower, the question is how they would deal with their high mobility."

The crown prince pauses for a moment before turning to the other competitors, "On the other side, Elsword's team is surprisingly balanced. Elsword has incredible endurance and confidence to be able to take on any attack head on with Aisha as magic support would pretty much cover the short and middle range while Ara possesses the flexibility and agility to cover any shortcoming of the two. As it stands, the deciding point would be on how well they would be able to work and complement each other's characteristics. All in all, we can expect that this is most likely going to be a close fight."

Back in the arena, a flaming number, obviously made by magic, starts to countdown from 5 as all six fighters ready their weapons. As the countdown hit "0" all six moves toward the opposing team and the fight was on. As mentioned by Chung, Raven closed the distance in a blink of an eye as he leaped toward Elsword with explosive burst of jumping power and his nasod arm in front as if he's trying to grab the Rune Knight by the neck. However, Elsword seemed to have anticipated the attack as he raises his great sword and blocks the arm with the flat of his blade as the sound of metal against metal rings in the arena.

Despite that his initial charge was blocked, Raven is far from deterred as he kicks against the blade and propels himself upward before descending with his blade ready to slash, "Wolf Fang!" This time, the red-head reacted too late as the force of the blow sends him upward. With him airborne and unable to defend, Rena launched a jumping kick on him but this time, her kick was met with a spear which prevented her from connecting with her target.

Kicking the spear away, the elf barely manages to dodge a magic projectile no doubt shot by the Dimension Witch that is Aisha. Before the purple haired girl manages to cast another spell, dozens of energy bullets headed straight toward her, forcing her to stop her chanting in favor of teleporting away to safety. She knew based on previous experience that despite their ability to chase the target now, Eve's energy beam has to sacrifice both power and distance meaning that as long as she was able to teleport out of the range, the beams would dissipate by themselves.

Just as brief the clashes happened, both side leaps away back to a safe distance. Meanwhile the crowd was watching with their jaws hanging as Elesis can't help but comment, "A… A brief flash of offence and defense from both side. It seemed that they are still testing the water so to speak. It seems that we can expect an interesting match up here."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Upset

Eve sat hunched up on the bench of the Arena with a great pout on her beautiful face, her cheeks puffed up comically and her palms resting against her knees. Around her were her companions who just couldn't help but smile at her. The ever mature elf that is Rena patted the nasod queen on the head as she spoke to her, "Come on, Eve… stop sulking already."

The Nasod turned at her still with her puffed up cheeks before throwing her arm to the side, pointing straight toward Elsword, "But Rena… HE CHEATED!" The redhead rune slayer bent his body on the waist as he complained back, "Hey, I didn't cheat! It was totally legit. It's not like I wasn't hurt when hit, you know!" The two looked at each other as the sparks of rivalry between them was nearly visible much to the amusement of the others.

They were interrupted by the female voice that they were starting to familiarize with, "If I have to say… Elsword was right that he didn't violate the rule… but that was also totally a dishonorable and cheap tactic, though. I certainly don't remember ever teaching you to fight like that, little brother." The group turned to the side and found Elesis approaching with Chung next to her. The Hamel prince waved his arm as he spoke, "Good battle, guys. The crowd was totally excited… I have to agree with Eve and Elesis though; using stoic all the time to reduce damage and brush off attacks was a cheap move even for you, Elsword."

This time, it was the Rune Knight's turn to pout as he crossed his arm over his chest as he spoke, "Geez, fine. Take her side, will you… but a win in a win. Who cares how it happened, it's your fault for not preparing for it when you know that I can do it. Besides, you owed me for shooting my butt with that electric thing in Velder. I couldn't sit for a week, so just consider it even."

That's right, after several clashes of weapons and skills, Elsword had finally decided to use the cheapest and most deplorable tactic in his arsenal. He enhanced his physical endurance to the limit with magic in order to allow himself to attack without limit. The first victim of his tactic, unfortunately, was Eve whose skills in melee were practically non-existent. Sure, Rena and Raven tried to support her but with Aisha and Ara getting in their way, even they can't be at two places at the same time. Thus the moment Elsword managed to get past her defense, the silver-haired nasod's defeat was nothing else but assured.

When the balance of number crumbled, Raven and Rena were hard pressed to defend against their three attackers. It wasn't that their efforts were unrewarded; using double team tactic, they managed to take Aisha out of the fight by preventing her from effectively charging for mana. Unfortunately, they still ended up losing with Rena falling victim to Ara's Dragon combo before Elsword's Luna Blade finished her off.

Raven, facing the two-on-one situation tried his best to turn the situation around but even he couldn't take on both of them without midrange support. Even with his awakening his nasod drone and rage, in the end, he was defeated by combination of Elsword's Phoenix talon and Ara's flying kite, awarding victory to the opposing team.

After the match, all of them were admitted to the infirmary to get their battle wounds treated. Fortunately, thanks to the magic tag system, none of them had anything worse than minor flesh wounds. It then led to their current situation as Eve was sulking about their defeat much to the amusement of the people present.

Finally, Rena decided to change the topic as she turned to Elesis, "By the way, where's mom? I didn't see her since we left for the Arena." The female knight turned at the elf as she answered her, "She's going to Sanders as a messenger. With the water priestess kidnapped, we were worried about the condition of the other priestesses. Sanders was the closest shrine city from Hamel and house of the wind shrine, she volunteered to go there since she's technically out of job with you guys here. Speaking of which…." The red knight commander trailed off for a moment as she rummaged her dress pocket before withdrawing a white envelope from inside and handing it to Rena, "She told me to give this to you."

Rena tilted her head slightly in confusion as she received the envelope. Afterall, the last time her mother ran away from home, she didn't even leave so much of a goodbye. The others gathered around her as they too were curious about the content of the envelope. The Grand Archer opened the envelope and removed several pages of paper from it. The first paper was surprisingly a letter, it's content was short, "Glad to see you doing fine, Rena. See you later, maybe we will see each other again. Love you, Mom "

This time Rena punched the wall next to her while everyone sees the vein pulsating on her forehead, "So she ran away… AGAIN. Wait till I get my hands on her… I swear I'll freeze her and use her as ornament on top of Ruben Forest…." The group looked at the usually mellow Grand Archer with a sweatdrop on them as they couldn't help but pity the escaping elf…. It looked like the relationship between this mother and child was rockier than they thought.

Suddenly, Aisha pointed to a section of the letter, "Hey, there's more…." Rena turned her attention back and sure enough, there was another line near the bottom of the letter, "PS: Can you pay for my debt at the bar too? Thanks~ Tehehe~ ;P" Rena seemed to freeze for a moment as she flipped the letter to the back of the pile and studied the other papers… before noticing that they were bills… addressed to her.

For a moment, there was silence among the group but every one of them started to step away from the Grand Archer. Suddenly, before their eyes, Rena seemed to exude a fiery aura not unlike something that they normally associate with Raven's rage. In fact, they could have sworn that her hair had risen by itself as if possessed. Finally, the elf snapped as she screamed to the top of her lung as she exploded in rage, "MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!"


End file.
